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Isro initiates RFP for foreign satellite leasing
NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has initiated a Request for Proposal (RFP) to obtain responses from interested foreign satellite operators for leasing satellites with transponders working in Ku and C-band frequencies.
Isro’s move comes in the wake of acute Ku-band transponder shortage that the Indian DTH industry faces as they seek to add channels and offer high-definition (HD) services on their platform.
Market leader Dish TV said early this year that it will be utilising four 54 MHz Ku-band transponders on AsiaSat 5 to enhance its HD and SD offerings. The additional transponder capacity on AsiaSat 5 will enable Dish TV to significantly increase its DTH offerings to more than 30 HD and 320 SD channels.
Tata Sky, a joint venture between Tata Group and Rupert Murdoch’s Star Group, wants 12 additional transponders for expansion but Isro is unable to meet their needs.
“All the DTH operators want more transponder space. Isro has to speed up the satellite launches. There also should be an urgency to allow space on foreign satellites. Then only can the DTH industry expand their channel offerings,” a top executive of a leading DTH company said on condition of anonymity.
Isro plans to increase the transponder capacity by building and launching communication satellites GSAT-9, GSAT-10 and GSAT-11.
Isro at present has 187 transponders from nine Indian communication satellites including transponders of GSAT-12. It has taken 86.5 transponders on lease basis from foreign operators through its marketing wing Antrix Corporation Limited.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office V Narayanasamy said a RFP has been initiated to obtain the responses from interested foreign satellite operators for leasing of space.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
